Repudiated at the Polls, Will the Left Resort to Violence?

Cliff Kinkaid, editor of Accuracy in Media, penned a column this week that warns of a leftward move towards violence in the wake of the Tea Party-Republican victories in the Congressional elections. His focus was nationally syndicated cartoonist Ted Rall who said on MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan Show that a “revolt” is necessary. He claimed that peaceful avenues for change had been fruitless and embraced violence as a last resort. Rall was promoting his new book "The Anti-American Manifesto."

Also mentioned by Kinkaid was Bob Avakian, a former SDS comrade of Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, the terrorist couple from the 1960s who helped launch Barack Obama's political career in Chicago. Avakian is the chairman of the avowedly Maoist Revolutionary Communist Party, USA and a cult figure in the antiwar movement (Cindy Sheehan adores him). I dug out of my library a book of essays Avakian wrote during the Reagan administration. One of his themes was the essential unity of radical movements and regimes overseas with those at home,

If it is true that the greatest contribution to the world revolution that can be made in the U.S. in this period is the overthrow of U.S. imperialism and the establishment of the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat in its place, it is certainly no less true that the course of the revolutionary movement in the U.S. and even its prospects for victory will be decisively influenced by the overall course of the revolutionary struggles in the world as a whole.

His timing was off, as it was the collapse of the Soviet Union that occurred, not that of the United States, providing America with a "unipolar moment" of renewed world leadership. Yet, it cannot be doubted that the Left's enthusiasm for the Obama campaign in 2008 and the number of White House "czars" recruited from the radical fringe, gave hope that the heart of American "imperialism" was about to be transformed.

Withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East, a new emphasis on Palestinian rights against Israel, an "open hand" extended to Iran, "apology tours" to break with a colonialist past, climate change talks at the UN to assume Western guilt for the Industrial Revolution, and "engagement" with the Communist regime in China would all serve to shift the global balance of power against "imperialism."

But the revolution did not materialize. Though U.S. power and prosperity have been damaged, the American people have turned to the Right, not the Left, for solutions. Reagan's campaign slogan "Let's make American great again" should provide the motive for all new conservative initiatives whether from the establishment GOP or the flag-waving Tea Party.

A popular counter-revolution will, however, push many on the Left into the streets and some into underground terrorist cells as their leaders give up on ever winning the middle class---the hated "petty bourgeoisie" as Avakian called them, to their crusade for national suicide on behalf of world liberation. Kinkaid noted the Left's campaign to flood prisons with radical propaganda. Where better to recruit those who have already shown a desire to redistribute wealth by force?

Homeland security will face new tests and our diplomats and soldiers will continue to face challenges overseas; with the Left working as hard as ever to undermine the country on both fronts.

Cliff Kinkaid, editor of Accuracy in Media, penned a column this week that warns of a leftward move towards violence in the wake of the Tea Party-Republican victories in the Congressional elections. His focus was nationally syndicated cartoonist Ted Rall who said on MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan Show that a “revolt” is necessary. He claimed that peaceful avenues for change had been fruitless and embraced violence as a last resort. Rall was promoting his new book "The Anti-American Manifesto."

Also mentioned by Kinkaid was Bob Avakian, a former SDS comrade of Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, the terrorist couple from the 1960s who helped launch Barack Obama's political career in Chicago. Avakian is the chairman of the avowedly Maoist Revolutionary Communist Party, USA and a cult figure in the antiwar movement (Cindy Sheehan adores him). I dug out of my library a book of essays Avakian wrote during the Reagan administration. One of his themes was the essential unity of radical movements and regimes overseas with those at home,

If it is true that the greatest contribution to the world revolution that can be made in the U.S. in this period is the overthrow of U.S. imperialism and the establishment of the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat in its place, it is certainly no less true that the course of the revolutionary movement in the U.S. and even its prospects for victory will be decisively influenced by the overall course of the revolutionary struggles in the world as a whole.

His timing was off, as it was the collapse of the Soviet Union that occurred, not that of the United States, providing America with a "unipolar moment" of renewed world leadership. Yet, it cannot be doubted that the Left's enthusiasm for the Obama campaign in 2008 and the number of White House "czars" recruited from the radical fringe, gave hope that the heart of American "imperialism" was about to be transformed.

Withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East, a new emphasis on Palestinian rights against Israel, an "open hand" extended to Iran, "apology tours" to break with a colonialist past, climate change talks at the UN to assume Western guilt for the Industrial Revolution, and "engagement" with the Communist regime in China would all serve to shift the global balance of power against "imperialism."

But the revolution did not materialize. Though U.S. power and prosperity have been damaged, the American people have turned to the Right, not the Left, for solutions. Reagan's campaign slogan "Let's make American great again" should provide the motive for all new conservative initiatives whether from the establishment GOP or the flag-waving Tea Party.

A popular counter-revolution will, however, push many on the Left into the streets and some into underground terrorist cells as their leaders give up on ever winning the middle class---the hated "petty bourgeoisie" as Avakian called them, to their crusade for national suicide on behalf of world liberation. Kinkaid noted the Left's campaign to flood prisons with radical propaganda. Where better to recruit those who have already shown a desire to redistribute wealth by force?

Homeland security will face new tests and our diplomats and soldiers will continue to face challenges overseas; with the Left working as hard as ever to undermine the country on both fronts.